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Not quite the new Doctor Who

Just who is Who? The two Doctors: David Tennant and David
Morrissey.Photo: Supplied

STEADY on. Just because Sunday's Doctor Who special is
called "The Next Doctor" doesn't mean you are going to get a look
at the actual next Doctor, Matt Smith, outwitting Daleks. You would
need a TARDIS to take you a year into the future to witness his
arrival as the 11th Doctor Who.

The title of this special was a bit of a tease when it aired in
Britain on Christmas Day. Since the current Doctor, David Tennant,
announced in October that he intended to hang up his sonic
screwdriver at the end of 2009, the fanboys have been in overdrive
speculating about his replacement.

The special proved not to hold the answer. David Morrissey is
the "Next Doctor" of the title  but his Time Lord credentials
come into question as he and Tennant gad about London, 1851, with
Christmas and intergalactic danger in the frosty air.

It was several days after the Christmas special's premiere that
the curtain came up on the real McCoy, relative unknown Matt Smith.
And it wasn't just the fans who got excited. In Britain, where
Doctor Who has always been popular with families (thus the
tradition of the Christmas Day special), there was plenty of media
coverage.

It brought to mind Tom Baker's amusing tale of his "promotion
from general labourer to Time Lord" back in 1974, in his
autobiography, Who on Earth is Tom Baker?

After the public announcement of his new role, the struggling
actor went back to the building site where he had been making ends
meet. The Daily Express lobbed up to photograph him with his
workmates, shovels in hand. "The next morning we were all famous,"
he writes.

Becoming the Doctor is somewhat like becoming Bond  it
brings fame that usually ruins an actor's career, if not forever,
then at least for a couple of decades. Which is probably one reason
Tennant is getting out.

This is his swansong year, but unfortunately there won't be a
regular season  just four specials, the next being "Planet of
the Dead", which airs in Britain at Easter (no doubt later in
Australia, but more on that below). When the next season starts in
2010, there will not only be a new Doctor, but also a new lead
writer and executive producer.

Russell T. Davies, the man who has guided the show to great
success since its revival in 2005, hands over to Steven Moffat, who
has already written several episodes. These include the
award-winning "Girl in the Fireplace" (2006) and "Blink" (2007), in
which malevolent stone angels move towards their victims when not
being eyeballed.

The revived Doctor Who's slick production values bring
out the best in the writing, and "Blink" had me positively covering
my eyes  perhaps I would have ducked behind the couch (like
many people said they did as children, when first confronted by the
Daleks), if it hadn't been against the wall. Moffat deserved his
BAFTA for that one, and I'm not the only Doctor Who fan who
is happy about his appointment as the program's future grand
fromage. However, without the aid of a TARDIS, we must content
ourselves with the present, which in the case of Australian
television viewers, often means the past. But I suppose we should
consider ourselves lucky to have waited only one month for the
latest Christmas special, as before now there has been a six-month
delay.

It is little wonder that Australians are among the worst
offenders when it comes to downloading TV shows illegally. This is
presumably why local networks have begun to "fast track" foreign
programs  or at least the really popular ones (don't get me
started on the Emmy Award-winning but buried-in-Australia
Battlestar Galactica).

Aunty is, sort of, getting in on the fast-track thing with this
Doctor Who special. It will be interesting to see how long
we have to wait for the 2009 specials. Don't go looking for help
from the BBC. "The Next Doctor" could be viewed on its website
until recently, but not in Australia.